Geminar 4 Answer
by AztecPrince0523
Summary: War is coming to Geminar and only one young man can stop it. The Goddesses have already chosen their champion to save the world, but what if their chosen needs a little help? Enter Darien, a young Lynx from another wartorn and ravaged world, and his small team of friends as they join the chosen one to save Geminar. Armored Core 4 Answer Tenchi Muyo War On Geminar
1. Chapter 1

Standard Disclaimer here. i do not own Armored Core or Tenchi Muyo War on Geminar. this is a work of fanfiction. the previously stated properties belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 1 The Beginning of an Answer.

"Get out now! Thats an order!" I could hear Serene yelling in my ear as I overboosted to get out of the Cranium, my mission complete. three wrecked ACs far behind me now as I rushed to get out. I still felt the bitter betrayal of Thermidor in my heart, burning away at me in my anger. The Cranium collapsed all around me as explosions went off behind me, getting louder and bigger, the more time passed. I had destroyed the last Arteria at a heavy cost. My AC, Insanity, was heavily damaged, that was to be expected after what I had just gone through, the hardest fight I had ever fought against former allies. Wynne... I'm sorry, I wish things could have been different. Roy...You were a cocky son of a bitch, but you were alright. Thermidor...Otsdarva... Fucking traitor, my father should have finished you instead of letting you sink...

"In...ity...anity...Insanity come in!" I could hear the static on the comms as a voice tried to break through. The interference from the Cranium almost fried everything except for my hard link between myself and my operator and short comms. I readjusted the frequency until it came in clear as a bell, though that was probably because I was almost out as well. "Damn it Dare, where are you?! Come in!" now that I could here the voice, a woman's voice, I finally let a smile grace my face a little as I regonized the voice and knowing full well my remaining friends and allies wouldn't leave me behind.

"May, this is Dare, I am almost out. see you in a few...though I might need a little assistance once I get out...not sure how much longer my NEXT is going to hold up..." It was May "Smiley" Greenfield. probably my closest friend and ally next to my father who retired after we had defended Line Ark almost a year ago. once upon a time i had thought that THAT would have been my hardest fight.

"Savage Beast is in the field! This Beast will knock you out right good! Dare i expect a good payday for this! mopping up a bunch of normals? who do you think you're talking to? " At that i rolled my eyes though i was chuckling in amusment at Canis. another good friend and a hell of a fighter. one of few who came with me to Orca though, like the others, not an Orca member himself. i could hear the occasional explosion outside along with the telltale sound of a SULTAN plasma cannon sounding off. it sounded like Mrs. Theresia was having the time of her life for an easy paycheck. she didn't talk much but for whatever reason she had taken a liking to me and assisted in my training when Miss Haze was busy. having a veteran, and an Original at that, was nice when you needed advice and tactics.

I finally shot out of the Cranium. the filters on screen kicking in quickly as I surveyed the area, it was pure carnage with all the NORMAL wrecks and the weapon emplacements that were destroyed. My friends had kept the cannon fodder from getting in while I completed my mission. The last thing I needed was some NORMAL getting in and taking a cheap shot when I wasn't looking. I only had a few rounds each left in my SIRIUS laser cannon and my TRAVERS grenade cannon and about half of my MOTORCOBRA, and thankfully my MOONLIGHT was undamaged. I wasn't good for anything more than a light NEXT at worse, my boosters were damn near fried and my legs and arms had half of their mobility. not to mention I was over ninety percent damaged. I almost didn't make it. I got a lucky shot at the last second before Otsdarva could finish me off. I wish I could have seen his face when that TRAVERS round ripped his NEXT in half.

May in Merrygate skated over to me while Canis in Savage Beast and Mrs. Theresia in Karyon mopped up the stragglers and cleared a path for us. Wynne left a parting souvenir gash on my leg before my MOONLIGHT cleaved her in two and now, finally, my NEXT's left leg finally gave out. Merrygate caught my left arm and threw it over her shoulder and started skating after Savage and Karyon as they took point Canis being a two legged medium was faster and shot ahead to scout while Theresia stayed close by to handle any surprises though after what I faced in the Cranium I highly doubted that anything else that was that big of a threat would be in the area.

May was unusually quiet, normally she was very cheerful bright and friendly, though I could think of why. she was afraid I might have bought it in the cranium when she over heard Miss Haze on the comms. We needed to get back to our bunker so I could send orders to the regular troops of Orca to get the anti-satellite batteries charging and to start leaning on various scientists and engineers to start working on designing and building ships to get mankind off the poisoned Earth as soon as the Assault Cells had been cleared enough to give them a clear shot to outer space. Savage was waiting for us when we finally got to our NEXT transport trucks. He kept overwatch while we loaded our NEXTS before he climbed on the back of my truck. I drove the largest of them to be able to carry our NEXTs while one of us was on lookout detail. After a few checks we hauled ass out of there heading straight back home to our hidden bunker near Old Peace City, one of a few that Orca had that were basically small cities. we needed resupply and Insanity needed heavy repairs.

We had driven for a few hours before we had finally reached our base. The bunker doors opened up as we approached, May went in first and I followed second with Canis, and Theresia followed behind us, once all trucks were inside the doors closed and the bunker garage started purging the Kojima particles and cleaning the air while we parked the trucks and unloaded our cores for repairs and resupply. Insanity certainly looked like it needed a lot of new parts, I was just glad that it got me out of the Cranium. As the greenlight came on above the doors giving the all clear for sterile air we started pulling off our CBR gear and packed it up, NORMALs moved the carts that had our NEXTs over to the R&D compartments. Serene coming down one of the lifts from the cat walks from the control rooms. I was the last Surviving Orca Lynx. They had plenty other NORMAL and MT pilots as well as large teams of scientists and engineers. All from different backgrounds from the League. While my friends and allies helped me in my missions they themselves were not members of Orca. I paid them well which is why they helped me. That and the fact that after convincing them that the human race was doomed if we didn't do something to get off the planet. We at least needed to have the option to look to the stars for a future. Serene Haze walked with purpose over to us. A middle aged woman of asian descent, proud and stern., a powerful veteran Lynx and definately not a push over.

"So you finally made it back, good work out there. We have seen your Answer. The head engineer has already ordered replacement parts and repairs, they really did a number on the Insanity didn't they? You're lucky to have made it out alive, and don't worry about the rest of Orca. They have already accepted you as their new leader since they learned of Thermidor's betrayal. All his funds and equipment has been transfered to you so that should help with some of the repairs to your NEXT, the same goes for the rest of the Orca Lynx, any and all funds and parts have been transfered to your ownership."

And typically, Miss Haze was all business as usual, though I could see some of the workers smirking high up and snickering which got her attention and they shut up. I could guess why though. While she put on a strong front right now she was probably frantic with worry in the control room during the mission since she could see everything from the cameras on Insanity.

She treated me like her own kid most of the time and, while it was annoying at times, I appreciated it because I learned alot from her and she was an excellent Operator. May, Canis and Theresia were waiting for me patiently... Kinda... I don't know why but Theresia had Canis in a headlock and was slowly choking him and May was, naturally, laughing her ass off. He had probably said something to set her off so this was not a rare sight.

Theresia was about the same age as Miss Haze, she had straight brown hair that went down to her upper back in a french braid. Rather cool brown eyes and thin rimmed glasses, she looked rather proper and classy though that shouldn't fool you. She had a temper and was not above giving you a smack if you ticked her off. I would say she looked like a hot older librarian though I would never say it to her face, Canis on the other hand, didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. Hence, the current choke-out session.

Canis had rather unruly dirty blond hair that looked in need of a good combing. He had dark blue eyes and his face was rather proud, or arrogant depending on who you were asking. He was in his mid to late twenties though his personality gave the impression that he was much younger. He was tall, around six foot or so and yet Mrs. Theresia who was a good seven to eight inches shorter at around 5'3", was choking him out. Canis was started to turn blue in the face and May finally decided to get involved by trying to get Theresia to let him go before she killed him. I looked back to Miss Haze as she turned back to me after giving her dirty look to the workers.

"I appreciate that Miss Haze, thank you, god knows I could use the parts and the money will help pay the others. any world on the extra power and resources going to the cannons?" I asked while May finally got Theresia to let go of Canis. Theresia walked off while May was smacking Canis lightly in his face trying to wake him up as he had passed out before Theresia finally let go.

"The engineering department has already stated that they are in the process of transfering power and materials to the anti-satellite batteries. I have already ordered that an engineer team and security force be sent to each battery to get them working as soon as possible. Everything will start tomorrow morning so you should all get some rest. We can discuss other matters in the morning." She had stated and looked down at her PDA checking a few things.

"It is going to be at least a day before Insanity is repaired and re-tuned properly. I suggest maintaining a low profile. If you need to go out I suggest taking one of your spare NEXTs." She said as she looked up from her PDA and looked over to May dragging the unconcious Canis out of the garage by his feet. His head bouncing with a thud off the ground with every step she took while dragging him along.

"Alright, I'm going to get some sleep. Wake me in eight hours, or if anything happens." I said with a yawn before heading for the door that the others disappeared through. heading down the winding halls for my quarters. It was a small room, still, it was bigger than most of the others since I was a Lynx. My room here was rather plain, grey walls and ceilings with a full bed against the wall in the back corner.

A small single drawer night stand with lamp next to it and my desk against the opposite wall. my antique M4 custom built rifle was stripped down on the desk. It a gift from my father, it was had finding the parts for the weapon since it was so old. some of the components cost as much as some of my NEXT parts. next to it was an equally old M1911, both weapons custom built over the years between me and my father. A pair of M48 Tomahawks were leaning against the desk and stabbed into the top was an Ontario MK3 combat knife, a set of weapons I was well versed in, extensively trained by my father and his friends in using all the weapons I currently owned. My father was rather adamant about making sure I could defend myself, in or out of a Next. I had a number of other weapons stored in a foot locker at the end of the bed and in a small chest against the wall a few feet from the nightstand and a few smaller guncases under the bed. I was more a collector than anything, and only a few I had actually used in actual combat.

I stripped out of my clothing tossing them into the hamper in the corner before crawling into bed and shutting out my light. It had barely been fifteen minutes before I heard a soft knock at my door before it briefly opened and then closed. I heard a rustling before a small female body crawled into bed with me cuddling up to my side to which I absent mindedly stroked her hair while I tried to doze off.

"You scared me half to death Dare... Don't ever do that again... Please?" Her soft voice came from the darkness. I felt her nuzzling my neck as I held her to me. knowing who it was. She had been sharing my bed for almost a year now. I smelled her shampoo in her hair as I held her to me stroking her side to sooth her.

"I promise... I will not die so easily..." I said softly in her ear, kissing her gently as she cuddled up closer against me. I didn't get to sleep for another hour, but I didn't care. We were just glad to be alive and together still. I finally fell asleep an hour or so later, not knowing I was going to have a rather odd dream. A "job" rather out of the ordinary. A "job" I couldn't refuse... I just wish I had the option to tell them where to stick it.

So this is my first attempt at fanfiction. I am stuck using wordpad no one to proof read and no way to see roughly how long each chapter will be. Constructive criticism is appreciated so that I may learn and better my writing. Not sure of the direction I'm going to take this. Not sure if I'm going to make this as light hearted as the anime or make it a little more serious or a mix of both with some of my own unique sense of humor. Hope to make it a weekly or biweekly chapters though with work load or possibly writer's block' or my own laziness, who can say? bitches, gripes, complaints? shoot me a message.

update: 22 Jun 2014. just finished rereading the chapter to find any errors I may have missed and sure enough there were plenty so i fixed them and added a little more here and there so this chapter is a little different in places. Going to try to start writing chapter 3 today and if I am hit but a sudden bolt of writing inspiration it may be out today or sometime this week.


	2. Chapter 2

Standard Disclaimer here. I do not own Armored Core or Tenchi Muyo War on Geminar. this is a work of fanfiction. the previously stated properties belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 2: The Dreaming of an Answer

As I slept I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that I stood alone, standing on the ruined Spirit of Motherwill. It had been one of my most defining and difficult battles. As I looked down from one of the ruined flight decks I could see the burned out husk of Killdozer, Champion Champs' NEXT. He had been more a distraction than anything during this fight and a potentially deadly one at that, either by his missiles or from the missiles or Normals of the Spirit. I heard the softest whisper of a foot step and spun around quick to face...Insanity... The most powerful NEXT in the world now.

The AALIYAH frame towered over me. When I had designed it, its main color was as black as I could paint it. Its sub coloring was a dark blue and its support and optional colors were an almost blinding white, while its joints and devices on the frame as well as its eye were all bright vivid red. The weapons were all predominately grey and supported by black while the supporting pain was red and then I had touched those off with white. The last components of the Insanity were its stabilizers which were mostly on the head and upper core which were all the large versions of the AALIYAH stabilizers and then I had plasted the large AALIYAH upper leg stabilizers on it and to finish it on the middle and lower parts of the left leg were Akvavit LINSTANT and MADNESS stabilizers. The Insanity was an intimidating sight with its weapons and paint job.

Normally the weapons on it would have made it too heavy to move, however, I had tuned the legs to the max weight they would carry which was why the once speedy AALIYAH frame moved around at about average speed but could carry such heavy and powerful weaponry on its back plus what it held in its hands.

"He is rather beautiful for a weapon is he not?" Came a female voice. a small female came from behind Insanity's left leg. The first thing I noticed was her vived red crab-like hair. she wore odd clothing that I couldn't really describe and as for the woman her self...I knew that she was indeed a woman despite looking like a child. It was in her eyes. " I have to say that as weapons go he is well made and taken care of. I can tell you put a lot of time and effort into perfecting and maintaining him." She said as she looked up at Insanity.*

"Who are you?" Was all I could say seeing as I had no idea how I could dream up someone like this. everything else was easy. It came from my memory of one of my hardest battles starting out as a Lynx. Certainly it wasn't one of my favorites seeing as I actually had to work for it where most of my earlier jobs had been pretty much cakewalk. it was certainly a humbling experience that made me realise not to get full of myself. Being cocky had almost gotten me killed on this mission.

"I am your next client. My cohorts and myself have a job for you, you and your friends. You see, there is a war in the making at your next destination. Normally we wouldn't be involved seeing as we already set our pieces on the board in motion, however, someone else has seen fit to add their own pieces as well and they decided to cheat in this particular game. Therefore, we need to level the playing field back into balance. So we are hiring you and your allies as our equalizers. We, namely me, will provide you with supplies and a base of opperations as well as deal with a few..." She trailed off glancing at my right eye and arm. " 'Upgrades'..." She said with a face that made me, a battle hardened Lynx, want to run for the hills.

Rubbing my right arm nervously not sure if i wanted her anywhere near it. i knew why she looked. while my right arm was hidden beneath a leather shoulder pauldron that connected to a full leather sleeve, that ended in a long leather glove that buttoned to it. Everything made to completely conceal my biotech arm and hand. My eye was harder to hide because the crazy doctor and engineer who worked on it and my arm refused to do anything subtle with replacing them because they wanted them to look 'cool' as they put it. Most of the time my right eye was colored black-red-black. Black pupil, red iris and black scelera. When i was targeting something when i fired right handed it would turn into a red or green crosshair on a black background and when I used the zoom function it turned blue. It could move completely independant of my left eye and that tended to unsettle most people who looked me in the eye which was why I almost always wore a pair of sunglasses to hide my eyes. It didn't inhibit my sight since the biotech eye had various camera settings ranging from normal human sight to multiple IRNV settings. I was predominantly a southpaw however my father and his friends made me train and learn to be ambidextrous.

"What is the job then? What is the pay? Where and when is it?" I had started off asking, cutting straight to business. As weird as this dream was I might as well treat it like a job, at least until I could wake up from it.

She only smiled and tilted her head to look behind me. I hesitated a moment before I looked back and blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things but I saw my friends and their NEXTS spread out on the flight deck wings of the Motherwill they looked as confused as I did which did not make me feel any better. "The job is to win the war. simple as that. We need you to do what you do best, fight. as for pay. well...I AM the galaxy's greatest genius, so I suppose I could point your scientist and engineers in the right direction to get you off this dying planet." She said looking around at the barren earth around us. " I could give a starting bonus. I will create bunkers and have them delivered here for what is left of humanity to stay in safety and contamination free until your way to space is clear and your ships are built to get humanity off of the poisoned earth. As for you... Well we have no currency that your world regonizes." She said looking at us. Six in total, only two of us were in the in the top ten Collared rankings, one was retired, two were Originals, and two of us were Independent. We were a rag-tag band of Lynx and an operator.

"Then we will have to decline. Altruism will not pay for our repairs, our ammo, our living expenses, or our time. we did what we had to do for humanity to continue and we were paided for it. quite well actually. why should we work for you who cannot afford our services?" I said to the woman crossing my arms in finality, standing by my decision. In any event you cannot expect six Lynx to stand against an army. Numbers will over come even the best over time." I told her rather curtly while she looked at us all.*

"I'm afraid you are already hired, and I have ways to deal with your expenses. I just need you all to be ready tomorrow, and after your mission is done I will return you all home." she said in a sickenly sweet carefree voice and I took a step forward rather irritated.

"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time. So I will say it a little more simply. You can take this job, and stick-" She cut me off as she started walking off not caring what i was saying, and completely ignoring me. "Don't be late tomorrow. you have a war to prepare for today. I suggest you get cracking as soon as you wake up, ta-ta. * she said still cheerful and walked behind Insanity causing me to growl and storm after her but when I got behind Insanity's legs she was gone. I had to blink rapidly for a few seconds trying to figure out what the hell just happened and when I turned around my friends were fading one by one. "what the hell just happened?" I asked the empty air when a sudden loud ringing sounded off and i snapped awake back to reality in my own room. Groaning from just waking up and smacking the Off button on my alarm clock in irritation. Sitting up and rubbing my shoulder looking to the empty place beside me on the ruffled sheets. my bed partner had already left. I set my feet on the floor and held my head in my hands groaning. I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't really a dream and that I, and my friends, were just strong-arm enlisted into a war that was not our own. We needed to get ready. I get the feeling that we have no way of stopping her from getting what she wanted. I just wished I could see her again so i could get my hands around her neck.

Well another chapter down. Had to fight with a bad case of writer's block to get this one going. This story is going to take a different turn than when i started out planning. originally I had planned to set them in the beginning of the series of War on Geminar but realised that it would be ridiculously curbstomp-ish since, in my honest opinion, NEXTs will completely wipe the floor with any sacred mechanoid. So this is going to be set after the end of the anime. Another chapter or two and we will finally be on Geminar. And as to who the mysterious Sixth female Lynx is, I leave up to you readers to figure it out as well as who Darien is paired with. I already have it set but you are welcome to guess. currently designing the main villians and their NEXTs. Got the NEXTs pretty much done, I just need to work on developing the enemy Lynx who are all going to follow a particular theme. However i am open to suggestions for minor and mid-boss villians and or their NEXTS as well as the sacred mecha masters and their mechanoids. Tune in in within the next few weeks to a month and I will try to have the next chapter up. Bitches, Gripes Complaints? shoot me a message. constructive critism would be appreciated. Just don't act like an idiot or i will just block you. Seeya next time.

P.S. Next chapter i might put up Insanity's schematics for anyone who is interested as well as his paint scheme and FRS stats.

P.P.S. almost forgot. will probably explain the story behind Darien's eye and arm and their full capabilities next chapter too...probably...maybe...


	3. Chapter 3

Standard Disclaimer here. i do not own Armored Core or Tenchi Muyo War on Geminar. this is a work of fanfiction. the previously stated properties belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 3: The Preparation of an Answer. Part 1

I started off the day with a shower, after last night's antics i needed it to wash off the sweat and stink and refresh myself after that dream. Scrubbing myself down and checking that my biotech arm was clean. The electronics, gears, and pistons were completely exposed to the clean water. The arm and its workings were completely waterproof. They had to be, that was what Abe Marsh and that crazy former Rayleonard engineer, Doc Joe, had designed it to be along with their various tweakings and additions they made whenever they got the chance when they visited, plus whatever they did to my biotech eye. They could no longer work on the right side of my brain, mainly because my father and I told them to go to hell. I had been legally dead when they had first worked on me. Something my father hadn't been happy about after he woke up from his own coma after our battle at Line Ark.

I scrubbed the old scar over my skull where the electronics replacement graft was. between the Kojima poisoning and the chain gun rounds that tore through my core both of Insanity and my own i had been dead for almost two months. life support and a lot of experimental Kojima particle purging and operations brought me back. CUBE's last rounds as my SIRIUS' last shot destroyed him had blown through my Primal Armor and Insanity's armor blowing through my right side, completely destroying my arm, shrapnel destroying my eye and tearing through my brain. Line Ark had sent their NORMALs to pull my father and out of the ocean. my father had been disabled and sunk, but not so low that they couldn't retrieve him. I on the other hand would have sunk but somehow Insanity had grabbed one of the braces and sunk its fingers into the concrete to keep us from sinking. Line Ark's NORMALs had dragged us all back to their main headquarters to protect us and work on our recovery.

The two crazy old men had worked on my legally dead body for those two months. cloning replacement organs or creating new artificial ones such as my lung. To bring me back to life and off life support they had to cut out the truely dead and irrecoverable parts of my brain, and then design the replacement for that part of my brain and then work on connecting it flawlessly to the rest of my brain. They had almost finished when my father had woken up from his coma after a few weeks. He had not been happy the two of them had taken the chance to run their experiments but he knew that they were also the only chance he had of getting me back. He and mama Fiona had watched over me as they worked for those months, working to bring me back to life, and finally after two months of work they had finished and turned off the life support if it didn't work then there was nothing more they could have done.

For a few seconds I was still dead until the graft kicked in and jump started my brain. my body coming back to life. I was alive but it would be another two months before i would wake up, and in that time, Abe and Doc Joe had been busy in that time. designing and building my eye and arm. The way my father put it, they had basically been a couple kids in a candy story since they had a good specimen to work on. My eye had been easy after their work on the electronic brain graft. their work really began on my arm. between working on its design, power supply and their additions which was basically them playing around with what they could do. my arm could easily bend steel and moved just as fast and easily as my normal arm... And then the additions came into play. In my wrist were a few attachments, one was a small single shot firearm with a selection of barrels that were interchangable for various caliburs or gauge which was easy to reload though it was obviously by design a surprise or last ditch weapon. I usually kept it armed for a twelve gauge smooth bore so I could fire shot or rifled slug, since in my mind anything else was a waste when you could only fire a single shot hence, I went for the shot shell. Under my wrist was a small hole for a hidden eight inch blade to pop out.

I had finished my shower and headed out to get dried and dressed. Pulling on a dark blue t-shirt that had a single right long sleeve and a cut off left before pulling up old U.S. Navy surplus digital blue camo pants and pulled on the belt and boots before blousing the legs up tight to the boots with their straps. and then finished with a black leather glove to cover my right hand. I hated it when people stared at my arm, eye or scar so I tied a solid black bandana around my skull and pulled on thin black and silver Oakley sunglasses to hide my eyes. everyone here knew why and didn't say anything, but outsiders would often say a smartass remark, and if i didn't get them, someone in my circle of friends would. It was usually Theresia or Canis, though nine times out of ten it was Theresia.

I stepped out of the room after i finished dressing and headed down the halls making way for the mess hall. walking in I noticed most of my friends were already there along with a few, new familiar faces which surprised me a bit. "Dad? What are you doing here?" I asked as I saw my father. Jason Vega, the legendary Raven/Lynx of Anatolia. He looked up at me smiling and wheeled his chair over to me and pulled me down for a back breaking hug. He was disabled from the waist down since the battle at Line Ark, but his upper strength had not diminished, nor did his pride. He was a strong man and even Canis knew to keep his mouth shut, especially so after the one and only time he cracked a smartass remark at my father after his disability and my father rocked him with a single shot to his temple with a quick fist and Canis had been out like a light, never again had he ever cracked a joke at my father's expense.

"Do I need a reason to see my boy after his victory over the League? You did good boy, any battle you walk away from is a victory, and you finished what we started long ago at Line Ark. I am very proud of you Dare." my father told me still smiling as he let me go after trying to break my back. Mama Fiona stood up from her chair and came over for a hug. she was small compared to me and my father so my hug for her was firm but not breaking.

"I am glad you won. You have made us both proud. We have a gift for you but it can wait for later. I am sure you are hungry so lets eat.* Mama Fiona said as she, my father and I headed back for the table. I sat down across from them and finally noticed who was sitting next to my father and step mother and I immediately groaned in displeasure. It was Abe Marsh and Doc Joe. I sat between May and Canis with Theresia sitting to his left.

"They showed up sometime last night after you went to bed." Said Theresia as she munched on some turkey sausage and washed it down with her coffee. she prefered it black and she was not a person to be around without her morning coffee. "We felt it best not to wake you. It could wait till morning. You needed your rest..." She continued as she sipped at her coffee. She certainly didn't talk much and when she did, it was always to the point.

"Where is Lily?" I asked looking around the table not seeing her around in the hall anywhere. She usually ate with us but she wasn't here this morning with everyone like she usually was.

"She ate earlier this morning and left to work on her NEXT. She said she needed to get it ready for what was to come." May said as she sipped on her orange juice. She didn't have a plate infront of her which told me she must have ate already with Lily this morning. Her short green hair hung just above the collar of her green jumpsuit. She really loved green and that should have been obvious from her NEXT down to her clothing. After her statement she gave me a look. A look echoed by Canis and Theresia which told me all I needed to know to truely confirm what I had dreamt last night had not truely been a dream and we were probably all going to work on our NEXTs as soon as we all finished breakfast.

My father looked at us as we looked at each other seeing us a little more solemn than usually considering our various personalities. "Dare, as soon as we finish lets get cracking on your NEXTs. Like Fiona said, we have some gifts for you to use." He said as he started eating, eating quick so we could get to work. I had a feeling that he knew about my dream which was why he came. Then, unfortunately, Doc Joe finally spoke.

"We need to do a tune up on your arm and eye, just need to make a few small improvments to the workings to increase their effectiveness. and after that you will be good as new. Better than new in fact." He said with while looking at my arm alongside Abe. This only made me groan with displeasure as it meant I would have to sit under their care until they were done and gave my father a dirty look while he looked at me and shrugged apologetically. They would never have come if he didn't allow them to tag along, so all I could do was eat quickly so we could get it over with and I could get to work.

After breakfast I had to sit through two hours of Abe and "Mad" Doc Joe as they fiddled with the equipment they brought with them in one of the labs. Replacing a few parts with upgrades and brought out a new attachment to replace my current single shot firearm hidden weapon and gave me a large case with various tools and mods for it. Thankfully it wasn't as painful a process as I thought it would be and i practically ran like hell as soon as they were done fiddling with my eye upgrading some of the camera settings, targeting and zoom functions. they had, as they had every time they saw me, asked to work on the electronics in my brain and, like every time before, I told them to go to hell before I ran off.

I jogged to the garage where everyone had been working on their NEXTs along side my father who gave them a few pointers and upgrading their FRS memory circuits to better tune their NEXTs as well as trade some of their weapons for newer, more powerful ones and placing stabilizers to handle the changes in balance for their NEXTs to handle the new upgrades and modifications. A team of engineers and mechanics were working hard and fast on repairing what could be fixed and replacing what could not for the Insanity. Insanity was in bad shape but certainly was looking better as they worked on it. The weapons were all on racks close to Insanity fully reloaded and respeced for optimal performance ready to be reattached as soon as the mechanics were finished.

My father was helping May retune Merrygate after convincing her to trade her two arm weapons. She traded her GAN02-NSS-WR rifle for the GAN01-SS-WGP wrist mounted gatling gun and traded her GAN01-SS-WB bazooka for the bigger and beefier WBP model. Close to her work station I could see two large GAEN01-SL-WH hand guns for her hanger weapons for when her main weapons ran out of ammo. Canis was in the cockpit of Savage Beast testing the tuning and how it felt with the new weapons he had installed on it out of our very large collection of parts and weapons. He had traded his MP-0601JC PM missiles for the more powerful DEARBORN03 VTF missiles and traded his LR04- AVIOR for a HLR09-BECRUX, and I could see that he had opted for a right handed SOLO plasma rifle and EB-0700 blade as a back up for his left hand. It would seem they were all favoring getting backup weapons now since their tuning allowed for it and they were certainly going to need them.

Theresia looked as if she didn't change much on Karyon. I could see she finally changed the BISMUTH for the ZINC vertical Kojima missiles. and adding the EUPHORIA PA molder shoulder part. Her philosophy had always been overwhelming force at cost of ammo. She was heavily armored and not to mention more agile than most heavy weights, making her a danger to anyone who was not as heavily armored as she was. even more so after her recent work.

As I kept looking around I was surprised to see Miss Haze working on her NEXT, Ciliegio, next to Mama Fiona. She was taking off the railguns and traded them for an AVIOR for her right hand and a HLR01-CANOPUS for her left and switched out her MEDUSA AS Missile for a higher capacity LAMIA, and added an EB-0700 blade for her left arms hanger. She already had a SPICA pulse gun for her right hanger so the blade surprised me, but just maybe after she had seen me with mine she felt that it was worth having one even as a backup weapon though I could see she upgraded her generator to an ARGYROS to give her the extra power she would need. Where her NEXT was a mild threat before, now it was a lot more dangerous.

I walked along checking on my number of spare NEXTs I had built though i rarely used them except to play around with when i got bored. most of them set with parts of the company that made them though a few were certainly a little strange with a mixture of frame parts. all of them except for Insanity were under large heavy tarps. I started walking over to a familiar 063AN frame as the crane system was setting a 0700 blade and GAEN01 hand gun into the right and left hangers respectfully. A tiny blond female with a long tightly braided tail down her back was facing away from me looking at the BFF NEXT in front of her as she worked on the new additions, not changing anything else for the Ambient. " Morning Lily. still tweaking Ambient?" I asked as I walked up behind her looking up at Ambient. tall, proud and graceful.

"Affirmative Dare, it needs a few adjustments but it is ready for combat." She told me in her soft voice with a quiet grace and regality befitting her family's illustrious name. Lilium Wolcott. She left the BFF and League for me. we had faked her death at the battle of the anti-satellite cannons, and I pulled her out of the almost completely destroyed Ambient into Insanity. I had to change out the single person core for a two seater for that mission which slowed me down considerably but it had been worth it. She had transfered everything she wanted or needed to us in small shipments so as not to draw attention and when she finally had the opportunity she took it. All she had left was a large duffle which she brought with her into Insanity during the mission. We had to drag the half wrecked Ambient back later and got it repaired quickly. She didn't go out after her betrayal for fear of being regonized. She stayed and helped Miss Haze in the control room most of the time as well as using some of her descreet connections in BFF to get us supplies and parts.

"You know Lil you need to learn to relax a little more..." I said to her jokingly with a smile as I stood next to her looking up at Ambient and down to her. her hand slowly inching away from her control board to find its place in my artificial hand. she didn't balk at the damage done to me. she still cared for me even after the disfiguring injuries. it was hard finding a girl like that nowadays. she wasn't much younger than me, and we had been quite close ever since I punched Ostdarva in the face for picking on her back at the Collared facility. none of us liked the little prick or his little butt buddy CUBE. it had been fun beating the slimy little bastard three separate times. once in the Collared simulator, once at Line Ark and finally the final battle between us at the Cranium.

"I know Dare, old habits are hard to break. I was brought up a little more proper than you and our friends. It is going to take time speaking as you do." She said looking up at me and tilted her head and smiled sweetly up at me. All i could do is smile back at her as i held her hand gently in my biotech hand. Careful not to squeeze to hard so I didn't break her hand. " How is the Insanity? Are they making progress on restoring it?" She asked and finally turned to look around to take in her surroundings, looking at Insanity as the engineers and mechanics swarmed over it like ants repairing and replacing all the damaged parts.

" About as well as you'd expect. Thankfully we have all the parts on hand that are needed. Insanity looks like death warmed over now but we have been through worse after all." I said with a chuckle as she let go of my hand and i brought it up. It was a clear reminder that nothing was as bad as this particular injury.

"Well when you put it that way." She said as she smiled and turned back to her work station and continued tuning her NEXT and working out any bugs and hiccups in the operation systems that occasionally happened. I had walked off to start working at my own station in front of Insanity. I had my own work to do on the systems which was something I could work on while the mechanics worked on Insanity. I had a lot of work ahead of me, as we all did so it would be best if I started working now. I could worry about Dad and Mama Fiona's gifts later. Right now Insanity's systems needed work and we needed all the time and preparation we could get. I needed to get this done as soon as possible and spend what little time i had left with my father and step mother. We only had a day to get this done. I just wished that we had more time. Actually i wished we didn't have to do this at all but we didn't have much of a choice. I put all my focus into my work. If I was going to get dragged into a war, I was going to make sure I was ready for it.

Well chapter three is a go and been writing it for about 11-12 hours now. the urge hit and I couldn't just stop. Well now the reveal of who Dare is paired with and who the mysterious sixth Lynx was. I had originally planned for it to be May however for some reason as I played it out through my head during the last week or so of planning it had somehow switched to Lilium. While May is one of my favorite characters in the game for some reason I just fell for the idea of Lilium. I am constantly refering to the armored core wiki and the game itself to make sure I don't screw too much with most of the canon as well as get other inspiration and ideas. i didn't get around to putting up the Insanity's schematics and FRS stats this chapter so maybe next chapter as well as the newly upgraded ally NEXTs. Next chapter should finish off the day of preparation and we will get into Jason's gifts to Darien and possibly how they are getting to Geminar as well as their base of opperations. Constructive criticism is appreciated. just don't be an idiot about it. Bitches, Gripes Complaints? shoot me a message.


	4. Chapter 4

Standard Disclaimer here. i do not own Armored Core or Tenchi Muyo War on Geminar. this is a work of fanfiction. the previously stated properties belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 4: The Preparation of an Answer Part 2.

I was busy fiddling with the wiring in the cockpit of Insanity after spending a few hours working on its OS and replacing the booster systems with fresh, brand new parts, wincing from the occasional zap from the electronics while replacing or repairing the wires. I was trying to ignore Canis who was being as annoying as possible trying to get my attention He was calling my name repeatedly varying between Dare and Darien back and forth. Basically in the same fashion from some annoying little kid bugging his mother from an ancient show that he liked to watch reruns of. I was in the middle of reattach the wires to a component of the AMS system when I heard him say the one nickname that I hated above all else and he damn well knew it. It was the fastest way to piss me off.

" FRANKENSTEIN!" I heard him yell out again. I felt my brow twitch violently and I finally moved moved from my seat and leaning over the edge, glaring down at him seeing him with his stupid grin on his face knowing full well he got under my skin. "What. Do. You. Want..." I said slowly as I felt my eyebrow twitching and could feel a muscle spasm in my left cheek from my irritation. "Lunch!" He shouted with a big grin on his face seeing my face. My other brow twitched as I lifted my right arm and pulled back the sleeve to expose my lower arm. The firearm barrel and workings popping out and ejected the lethal shell that was usually loaded and I reached for one of the shells on my belt pulling out an electric blue colored shell and slid it home listening the gun cock and lock.

Canis' face paled seeing what I loaded and he took off running even before I started talking and sighting in. "you have ten seconds. Ten...Nine..." I started counting down as I steadied my shot as he ran as fast as he could. "Two...One...Fire." the firearm sounded off as it fired the round. It was a advanced version of an old innovation, an XREP. More than three times the range and power of the original with a more recent upgrade of limited tracking ability. the round chased Canis as he hauled ass for the door. It was in vain as the round hit him in the middle of his back and he yelled in pain as he dropped face first, stiff as a board as the electricity flowed into his body. I had armed it to shock for a full minute which he was feeling as I climbed out of the cockpit and down the ladder and over to his twitching body just as the electricity finally stopped. I gave him a swift but light toe kick in his ribs as I passed by feeling much better seeing him twitching in pain.

Insanity still was out of commission and wouldn't be ready until tonight. I walked towards the door to the halls leading into the base and was about to open it. That was until we all heard the warning klaxons sounding off. the red flashing lights lighting up the room I growled and turned around running for the NEXTs, the loudspeakers were down for maintenance so we had no clue what was going on, though we knew that if the red lights went on then we were under attack. Canis had got to his feet as soon as he got the feeling back into his body and the other girls rushed out of the hall door. Mama Fiona was pushing my father in a hurry as Miss Haze was riding the lift up to the catwalks and then ran to the operator control room while Canis, May, Theresia and Lilium ran for their NEXTs. I looked up and down the line of my various NEXTs trying to pick one quickly while Mama Fiona wheeled my father next to me.

"I know you have plenty to spare." My father said as he looked at my NEXTs. I looked down at him as he snorted seeing my confused look turn into disapproval as I understood what he was trying to say as he spoke again to silence me before I got a word out. "I'm crippled boy. Not helpless. Give me something kitted out for long range. The least i can do is give you sniper support" He said looking around, he spotted Eagle, My customized four legged BFF sniper NEXT. A powerful, dangerous threat at range. Perfect for long-range support and certainly capable of delivering a lot of pain before the enemy got anywhere close to him. He suddenly got a big evil grin on his face seeing how it was kitted out, knowing full well that nothing would be able to touch him at the range that it would give him and I had to just shake my head and walk off while Mama Fiona helped him get into the Eagle. I knew there was no point arguing with the man, he was still a fighter even after losing his legs. I moved down the line before finally settling on the Deadly-Light, a Tank legged TELLUS kitted out in the hardest hitting laser weaponry that I could get my hands on and install on it. It was extremely heavy and slow, but the punch it could deliver meant that you had to be suicidal to try at take it head on.

I climbed up into the cockpit of the Light and started warming it up. Setting my hands on the controls and stretching out my psychic control over the NEXT, feeling it answer my touch. I keyed the mic and waited to hear Miss Haze as our NEXTs warmed up for battle. Maintenance half done on them but we had no choice in the matter. The only ones who were truely ready were the Light and the Eagle. The others were mostly combat ready but they couldn't take chances with the maintenance only partially done. The Ambient was probably the one I had to worry about the least since all Lily did was add a couple hanger weapons and while they were not programmed into the NEXT's systems yet, they wouldn't cause any balance issues to worry about.

"Alright, listen up Lynx. Our long range sensors just picked up two fast approaching nexts being followed by what appears to be Omer NORMALS...numbers...over one hundred and fifty. The NEXTS are currently unidentified. Interference from them and the normals are making it difficult to make them out. We are currently countering with long range cannon, ECM and jamming comms but they appear to be heading this way." We could all hear Miss Haze reporting the situation as we prepped. I skated the Light out in front followed by my father while the others followed close behind everyone activating the longest ranged weapons they had to do as much damage as possible before we got in their range.

Personnel cleared the hanger garage or donned CBR while about twenty Solarwinds lined up behind us to give backup as best as they could. We had to put our own CBR gear on while in the NEXTS quickly before the doors opened. The NORMALs skating passed us and taking up positions to cover with long range cannon, sniper or support missiles. before the rest of us skated out. My father in the Eagle moving to sit on a high mound of sand, hunker down and prep the 061 sniper cannon and the cluster missiles, they were the reason whey he had such an evil grin those weapons _hurt_. Ambient moving up to support him as back up. she could provide back up when they got a little bit closer. Merrygate and Beast both moved to the outer defensive line with missiles ready while I skated forward with Theresia by my side. she was currently the only one beside me who could dish out and receive a severe beating. She readied the ZINC missiles and her SULTAN while I fed power to to my laser weapons. Deciding to open up with the BECRUX and ACRUX that I had in my left hand and on my right shoulder respectfully, the SCYLLA missiles on my shoulders ready to do so damage or be a distraction however I needed them. We could hear a little bit of interference on the comms again but knew why as we heard Mama Fiona.

" Approuching NEXTs have been identified. Gachirin and Asterism. Both heavily damaged and both low on ammo and energy." I could hear my step mom's soft soothing voice, she must be in the operator control room with Miss Haze. Good, at least we now had two pairs of skilled eyes and ears. But then I registered what she had said in my brain finally.

"Nidus and Emery? I thought they died on that suicide mission Thermidor sent them on?" I could hear Canis on the comms. for once he was actually keeping his mouth in check and behaving himself. "Apparently not, or they could be impostors keep your guard up." Theresia said calmly as she and I moved ahead and finally saw the two NEXTs, and sure enough it was them. Both of them with boosters half working and hanging onto each other in a vain attempt to increase their booster efficiency. The NORMALs behind them firing with everything they had. Most shots missing thank god but many still hitting them and slowing them down. Our long range assault picking off NORMALs left and right but there was just too many. I boosted ahead with Theresia. Both of us opening fire as we heard the comms crackle again. and I heard a voice I thought I would never hear again.

"About damn time. What took you so long Darien? " I could hear Neo on the comms. they spun briefly so Neo could fire off a shot of the LETHALDOSE and take out about five lined up NORMALs. From the looks of it, it was probably their last weapon that they had since they were carrying nothing else, having dropped everything in exchange for speed. "I hope Thermidor is in there Darien, because when I find him, I'm going to kill him!" Julius Emery yelled over the comms making very clear she was not happy. Alive, but not happy.

"Get behind the line, we can explain our situations later." I ordered them as Theresia fired off her ZINC into clusters of NORMALs to take out as many as possible. Missiles, sniper fire, long range laser fire and long range cannons sounding off behind us, decimating the NORMALs in droves. the support fire gave Theresia and I the room we need to manuever and fight. my laser weapons destroying most of them in a single shot while Theresia constantly switched between her weapons depending on single or groups when we heard Miss Haze on the comms again.

"Warning. Armsforts approaching. two Omer Eclipse. they aren't playing around are they? * Miss Haze almost seemed impressed with the amount of fire power they were sending after two nearly destroyed NEXTs. "They are trying to silence us because we learned the truth, we know about them and Thermidor! * Julius yelled as she and Neo boosted into the bunker while everyone else was letting loose with everything they had. "Keep jamming their comms and signals. We do not want them reporting where we are. Leave no survivors. * I barked out my new orders as I overboosted towards the Armsforts jetting towards us.

"Dare what the hell do you think you're doing?" I heard May yell in surprise as she and rest of them saw me rocket away towards the forts. "Theresia fall back to the others and support them in taking out the NORMALs. I'll deal with the Armsforts." I had to hurry. Those things would decimate our NORMALs and most of everyone's ammo was spent on the attackers. I saw long range lasers fire from the Eclipse' taking out our cannons before they could get a shot off. I heard and saw a sniper cannon firing. My father supporting me with the last rounds of the 061 and firing off the last of his cluster missiles before he over boosted to catch up with me still equipped with the 051 rifle and 067 laser rifle. It wasn't much against an armsfort but the damage from his cannon and missile ought to have softened the one up enough for us to take down though the other was going to be a pain, I had used up most of my ammo on the NORMALs not expecting the armsforts. My father and I circled around under the one firing at it with everything we had. i had to purge the SIRIUS and ACRUX on my back when they came up empty and did the same to the BECRUX after its final round. I still had about twenty shots left in my CANOPUS, my left arm grabbing the Aspina XMG from the hanger compartment and started firing.

DARE, MOVE! Get out of there! * I heard my father yell as the Eclipse we were tag teaming finally was coming down...right on top of me! I over boosted to get the hell out of there while the other Eclipse gave chase firing on my exposed back while my father was trying to get its attention while it hammered away on my backside while I tried to bring the Light around to bear. Firing the last of my CANOPUS rounds and purging it and grabbing my last weapon from the hanger, an AVIOR laser rifle, and started firing. The Eclipse finally got pissed at my dad and spun the laser cannon around and blasted him stunning him and sending a barrage of missiles at him which he faught off with the051ANAM flares while trying to get moving to get the hell out of there.

"This isn't looking good..." He said over the comms as he skated towards me so we could regroup. Firing another shot of flares to distract the missiles. He tried to fire another flare off and would have if the system hadn't jammed. "Definitely not good!" He yelled as we both bolted back for the bunker. The attacking NORMALs were all charcoal thank god but everyone was low on ammo now and sending everying they had at this new and improved Eclipse that was taking everything including the kitchen sink that we could through at it.

"GET CLEAR!" I heard Neo bark as he came back out in Gachirin and fired the LETHALDOSE at the Eclipse. Surprisingly stunning it and then an orange and red blur shot out. Brutus, one of my heavy assault tank NEXTs, laden down with heavy explosive weaponry. "This is for Orca you son of a bitch!" Julius yelled as she fired with all four weapons of Brutus which she was currently borrowing. the LETHALDOSE had softened the Armsfort up for Julius' devastating barrage. YAMAGA grenade cannon, a GA bazooka and gatling gun and the finishing touch of DEARBORN03 missiles. Unleashing everything at once, needless to say that, with that much fire power concentrated on it, the Eclipse buckled and crashed into the sand before exploding. A cheer sounding off on the comms from the NORMAL Orca pilots who had, surprisingly, all survived. I let out a sight of relief while my father skated up next to me. "you did good, Dare. Nice work..." I could hear the pride in his voice. Pride, and relief, that we both made it out alive and in once piece unlike the last time we had fought side by side. We all skated or walked back inside. The Bunker doors closing behind us before the system started purging the Kojima Particles from the air and scrubbed the dirty air into filtered clean air while we moved our NEXTs and NORMALs to the repair docks for repairs and resupply.

"Damage report." I heard Miss Haze call out as we sounded off one after the other. Reporting damage to the frames, ammo consumed and for what weapons. Most of us came out unscathed. Karyon was pitted and burned in some places but otherwise unharmed. Eagle and Deadly-Light on the other hand were not so lucky. We had taken heavy damage, a little over fifty percent and burned out most of our ammo but we had survived. the mechanics and engineers were helping Neo get Gachirin back on its rack. Asterism was already on its own rack but Julius was currently piloting Brutus back to its bay for resupply. "This NEXT handles like a drunk elephant but damn does it bring the boom!" I heard Julius as she both complained about and complimented Brutus sounding rather gleeful. Apparently she liked the feel of all that firepower at her control.

"All in all I think that could have gone so much worse. course we had gloryhog Dare to thank for taking down one of the forts." Canis said and smirked at me. "Alright then you little smartass, you can handle the next Super Eclipse that comes our way." I growled at him as I walked over to where Julius and Neo were. Both of them looked haggard and half starved. it looked like they had run out of their field rations before they had finally found us. "Lets get some food finally. I think it has been a long enough morning. We need to discuss what happened while they were gone and what info they have gathered. I think they might be glad to hear some of our own more recent news... I'm just glad I am not the last Orca..." I said the last bit softly. I had looked up to Neo and Julius. both were skilled and powerful Lynx in Orca and they were the last of the Big Five, the leaders of Orca. I looked over to Eagle seeing Mama Fiona and some of the mechanics helping my father out of the cockpit and into his chair. Lilium walking over to me after she docked Ambient.

"Are you alright? You took a couple of hard hits..." Lilium asked looking up at me, reaching up to touch my shoulder as she looked my body over despite knowing that it would take extremely devastating damage to pierce the core." I'll be fine, Thanks to Neo and Julius we can fight another day." I said looking down at her. While everyone started moving for the hall. Canis was being thoughtful for once, or more likely Theresia threatened him again, but he was helping her get Neo and Julius down the hall. Now that the adrenaline was done flooding their bodies, they were nearly helpless now. "Come on, I'm hungry and I know damn well that you can eat a pig all by your self." I teased her while she hit me hard in my left arm, but it was the truth and she knew it. She ate the most out of all of us and didn't gain a pound on her tiny petite frame. We walked together heading for the mess hall to join the others. I needed to know how Neo and Julius survived. I needed to know what they had learned and I needed to tell them about Thermidor and about our victory, and that they had to handle things while we were gone. I sighed as we walked. We only had half a day left to get ready. We had to make our time count. Time wasn't a luxury we could afford much of right now.

yay chapter 4 is complete and look how long it took. It took me a while to get motivated and break through the brick wall that is writer's block. not to mention having my job and personal life to deal with, so, sorry about the long wait. been working on designing a few of Darien's spare NEXTs as well as designing the frames of his enemies. currently i am in a dilemma on the "final boss" so to speak as to what basic frame he should use as well as weapons. currently in the air are, another Aaliyah, a Lahire, and a powerful eklakh that i just designed recently that is particularly devastating. the final boss will be my choice but i am willing to take suggestions on sub bosses to lead up to that point. so if you have a suggestion. send it in and i may consider it. the final battle is far down the line but it doesn't hurt to start planning now. Bitches, Gripes Complaints? shoot me a message. Just don't be an idiot about it.


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